For the Least of These...

This phrase has been ringing between my ears for about the last 5 weeks now.  I've been thinking about being a Christ-follower in these terms and have been compelled to act in ways that show it. I am so proud (as a father is with his son) of our students tonight.  I left thinking that some real tangible growth happened with our group tonight.  

We have program the first and third Sundays and small group on the 2nd and 4th Sundays, but occassionally we have a 5th Sunday that we decided to be creative with.  Tonight was one of those nights.  We decided to expose our students to "the least of these" by taking 60 students and 10 adults to a homeless shelter downtown Cleveland.  Since our students are living in a land of plenty, it's good to expose them to people who have very little.  Allowing students the opportunity to minister to the kinds of people that Christ was engaging with on a regular basis really helps solidify their faith and provides some great opportunities for conviction to take root in their hearts.  So we squeezed a total of 70 people in vans and brought 80 dozen cookies that were baked by many of our students as well as dozens of pairs of socks and knitted wool hats and hand delivered all these goodies to close to 100 homeless men that were staying in a downtown shelter.  While some students were a bit nervous and clingy to friends, the majority jumped right in with other adults and peers to spend time talking and listening to story after heartbreak story of men who have ended up in a place that they never dreamed they would end up.  We sang Christmas carols and shared the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Students shared unprompted with many people about their own faith in Christ.  The beauty of the gospel and the spirit of what Christ calls us to be was on display tonight in a way I have seldom seen.

High school students were saying things like "Our hope isn't in stuff, it's in Christ", "I want to pray for these people", "I want to pursue Christ's heart by loving these people".  The wheels were turning in great ways in the minds of these students.  

I believe wholeheartedly that the best way to change the world is by investing in the next generation...teaching them to love the least of these.  Man, I love my job.